Originally Posted by
Kagehitokiri
only option besides walking in without appointment is 3rd party
hotline gave me appointment 9 days out
i am not the first person to mention walking in on FT
there is also discussion of 3rd party expeditors on FT
Some Passport Agencies seem to require appointments while others do not. At Minnespolis, the phone system (which is very frustrating as a way to schedule an appointment) says that appointments are required, but when you go, there's a separate "line" for those without appointments.
For USA passports, passport services do nothing more than hand holding for a big fee. They also add about a day to the process on each end. It's a ridiculous waste of money unless someone cannot follow simple directions on their own.
OP has a bunch of viable choices, where using a passport service is the worst:
1. Double check whether the destination permits passports within six months of expiring, including details of whether any threshold applies to entry, planned exit, or maximum allowable stay as a tourist or business visitor. If the old passport can still be used, procrastinate on renewal until after the trip.
2. Apply for renewal by mail, pay expedite fees, and relax.
3. Apply for renewal at Pasport Agency. Perhaps not convenient but Orlando to Miami isn't impossible either. Get new passport same day or next day (with evidence of "need), have it mailed next day (with evidence of "need"), or apply for the two week turnaround by mail.
4. Apply for passport renewal without paying the expedite fee, keep fingers crossed, worry, and perhaps risk not being able to take trip as scheduled.
5. Use passport service, pay extra fees for it, go through the inconvenience of filling out their forms in addition to the required government forms, and hope they don't mess up. Remember that you pay ALL applicable federal government fees in addition to the passport agency service fees which can be substantial. For expedited service, you pay the additional $60 fee the same as if you were applying directly to the government.
These passport services don't perform any magic in getting USA passports, including renewals. You pay all of the standard fees. The service simply receives your documents and forwards them to the government, then receives your passport back from the government and sends it to you. The better ones will check that your documents are in order before forwarding them to the government, but do you need to pay someone to do this for you?